Lavender’s Blue

Of all the fairies featured in the pages of Cecily Mary Barker’s various turn-of-the-century publications, my favorites as a child were only two: the Rose Fairy and the Lavender Fairy. As a little girl growing up in Hawai’i–where any botanical fey were most likely to be creatures like “the tree fern fairy,” “the ‘ohi’a lehua fairy,” or “the terrible invasive species fairies”–I found Barker’s magical recreations of the flora and fauna of the English countryside to be wildly exotic, and I imagined these two fairies would be my particular friends.

After last week’s rather rose-tinted celebration of my pastel wardrobe, I thought it would be perfect to follow up with a outfit that’s a little more on the purple side. Hey, if I can’t actually hang out with flower fairies, perhaps dressing like one is the next best thing?

Now that it’s getting just slightly chilly in New England, I’m upgrading all of my summer outfits by identifying a scarf that would well accompany each–and this pairing is probably the most lovely and ethereal of them all.

This light purple Maitai dress is as adorable as it is awkwardly short on my long legs, but I use the former as an excuse for me to ignore the latter. The lacy skirt adds an elegant touch to what would have otherwise been an ordinary cotton sundress!

The dress itself pales in comparison to this gorgeous scarf, which looks like all the hues of the sea and the sky at sunset running together into a beautiful cool gradient! Its color scheme reminds me of the aesthetics of Song of the Sea, my favorite-film-of-the-moment.

Impossibly, this scarf was hand-marbled by two very talented artists (a.k.a. my mother and my sister!), and I couldn’t be happier about receiving one of their scarves for myself. With so many colors that complement everything in my wardrobe, this scarf can top off just about any outfit–particularly if you, like me, are most interested in creating that “am I a selkie? MAYBE” look in your everyday apparel.

With its loops and whorls and gentle variations in color, marbled fabric is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever encountered–it’s about as close to adding magic to your outfit as you can get!

I also loved the Flower Fairies as a kid but, living in Australia, I had much the same issue as you – many of the flowers I had never seen in real life! I do love your scarf too – what a talented family you have! 🙂